Brick Wall
Overview
This modular display typeface treats each letter as a structural unit, stackable, repeatable, and built to fit together like bricks in a grid. The project began with an exploration of the phrase “wall of text,” imagining how text could take on the physicality of a built wall.
Later, Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall became a reference point for the name, tying the idea of modular letters back to imagery of walls, especially those in the process of being built up and torn down. As a result, most visual representations of the font throughout this page will be using inspiration from that album. There is also a text box for you to test the font towards the end of this page.
Objective
The goal was to create a typeface where enough characters together would look like a wall of brick. Each character operates as a couple bricks, forming dense, unified text blocks with rigid internal logic. The result is a display system that can function both as typography and as a graphic texture.
Download at 18″ x 26.5″ | Download at 11.5″ x 14.75″
Design Approach
The project began with me looking through monogram sketches from an old high school project. I found an experimental sketch combining my initials, A and K, which interlocked diagonally and formed two perfect squares that were tilted to form an infinity-like silhouette. I realized that the heavy columns and thin crossbars could be applied to other letters to make them fit a similar mold. This concept expanded into a full type system exploring how letters could fit within a fixed modular grid. Early shapes were explored in Illustrator before building the entire glyphset in RoboFont. Final mockups and visual presentations were created in Illustrator using the exported font files.
System & Variants
The underlying grid system defines each letter’s structure and spacing. It uses a structure of two thick columns, separated by a thin one to create each letter. The thick columns are connected by thin strokes at the top, middle, and/or bottom, with rounded or pointed corners as needed for legibility, balance, and style. This modular logic allows letterforms to adjust while remaining locked to the overall system.
However, you may wonder about letters that wouldn’t fit into this two-column structure cleanly. Letters like W, M, I, and T might do better with one or three columns. And yes, W, M, and I were treated probably as you would expect, but T was approached in a different way compared to the other letters.
The T was creating weird negative space below it when crafted to fit three columns. And when crafted to fit just one, it felt so much like an I that that version was scrapped. I landed on creating three variations:
- A primary form with the top bar extending left.
- An alternate with the bar extending right for specific word placements.
- A full three-column variant with the bar extending both directions, just in case it had letters on each side that could fill the negative space.
This ensures that even irregular letters integrate seamlessly within the typographic wall. Additional alternates are included to keep negative space consistent across varying letter combinations and placements.
Technical Details
Brick Wall is an all-caps display typeface built in RoboFont, with coded alternates to automate contextual alternates and system refinements.
feature calt {
# — Rule 2: t or T between L/l and J-family → T.alt3 —
sub L t’ J by T.alt3;
sub L t’ j by T.alt3;
sub L t’ J.alt2 by T.alt3;
sub l t’ J by T.alt3;
sub l t’ j by T.alt3;
sub l t’ J.alt2 by T.alt3;
sub L T’ J by T.alt3;
sub L T’ j by T.alt3;
sub L T’ J.alt2 by T.alt3;
sub l T’ J by T.alt3;
sub l T’ j by T.alt3;
sub l T’ J.alt2 by T.alt3;
# — Rule 1: t or T followed by J-family → T.alt2 —
sub t’ J by T.alt2;
sub t’ j by T.alt2;
sub t’ J.alt2 by T.alt2;
sub T’ J by T.alt2;
sub T’ j by T.alt2;
sub T’ J.alt2 by T.alt2;
# — Rule 3: J-family preceded by T-family → J.alt2 —
# Covers plain t/T
sub t J’ by J.alt2;
sub t j’ by J.alt2;
sub t J.alt2′ by J.alt2;
sub T J’ by J.alt2;
sub T j’ by J.alt2;
sub T J.alt2′ by J.alt2;
# Covers substituted Ts (chaining)
sub T.alt2 J’ by J.alt2;
sub T.alt2 j’ by J.alt2;
sub T.alt2 J.alt2′ by J.alt2;
sub T.alt3 J’ by J.alt2;
sub T.alt3 j’ by J.alt2;
sub T.alt3 J.alt2′ by J.alt2;
@LettersUpperNoL = [A B C D E F G H I J K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z];
@LettersLowerNoL = [a b c d e f g h i j k m n o p q r s t u v w x y z];
@LettersNoL = [@LettersUpperNoL @LettersLowerNoL];
# t/T → T.alt3 when before . or , AND preceded by L/l or . or ,
lookup T_before_punct_alt3 {
sub [L l period comma] t’ [period comma] by T.alt3;
sub [L l period comma] T’ [period comma] by T.alt3;
} T_before_punct_alt3;
# t/T → T.alt2 when before . or , (general case)
lookup T_before_punct_alt2 {
sub t’ [period comma] by T.alt2;
sub T’ [period comma] by T.alt2;
} T_before_punct_alt2;
# t/T → T.alt2 when followed by space AND preceded by a non-L letter
lookup T_before_space_after_nonL {
sub @LettersNoL t’ space by T.alt2;
sub @LettersNoL T’ space by T.alt2;
} T_before_space_after_nonL;
} calt;
feature ss01 {
sub T by T.alt2;
sub t by T.alt2;
} ss01;
feature ss02 {
sub T by T.alt3;
sub t by T.alt3;
} ss02;
feature ss03 {
sub J by J.alt2;
sub j by J.alt2;
} ss03;
One of the better examples of how this can function is the letter series LTLTJTJ. All of these contain gaps which may not be desired when displayed often in a wall of text.
So the solution was to automate the changing of these glyphs to fit together more snugly. One issue however, was the letter J was looking odd when next to the letter T. The subtle connection between the tops of the letters made them appear like one strange character.
Instead of that, I cut off that part of the J, but only in the situations it’s next to a T. This led to the LTLTJTJ sequence from above condensing to the following:
This is just one pretty comprehensive example of the way this font was programmed to adjust. More interactions are planned with punctuation and alternates for the font’s final release in a couple of months.
Conclusion
While originally built as an experimental display typeface, it now stands as a functional system ready for practical use in posters, album covers, or any context where text is treated as both communication and graphic element. Final refinements will focus on additional punctuation and glyphs, as well as any necessary programming for the new additions before it is released publicly.